Oma's Austrian dumplings

Ingredients

3 Eggs

300 g flour

1/2 tsp salt

5 medium potatoes

Filling for savoury dumplings

Use Minced cheese and salami, or

Minced beef with seasoning e.g. as below, or

Braised fat, or

Smoked meat, celery root, leek, salt, pepper & parsley mixed together.

Filling for sweet dumplings

8 small plums, or apricots (put some sugar in the apricots after removing the pip), or strawberries, or any small fruit of your choice.

60 g butter (unsalted)

120 gr breadcrumbs

Cinnamon

Sugar

Powdered/icing sugar

Method

1. Peel and boil potatoes, then cool and grate them.

2. Add eggs

3. Add flour (together with salt), handfuls at a time.

4. Knead gently to form a softish dough.

5. Place dough on a floured surface.

6. Roll gently with hands into a long roll - about 5cm in width.

7. Cut into approximately 12 rolls. Smaller dumplings will give you approx. 24

8. Press each roll in the centre to make an indent.

9. Make the filling into small balls, about the size of a table tennis ball.

10. Place the minced ball into the centre of the dough, cover completely with the dough and seal with fingers, adding flour. Squeeze, press and roll them using both hands, to make them into round dumplings. They should be about the size of a tennis ball.

11. Boil water in a large pot, add some salt to water.

12. Add dumplings, 6 - 8 at a time depending on the size of your pot. Boil for +-20 minutes . When the dumplings rise to the top they are ready.

13. Serve with sauerkraut and red cabbage which is made with mashed apples. These can be purchased from a German/Euro butcher.

Breadcrumb mixture for Sweet Dumplings

1. Melt butter in a pan.

2. Add breadcrumbs, sugar and cinnamon.

3. Fry slightly while stirring until crumbs are hot. They should be slightly brown.

4. Place Breadcrumbs in a bowl.

5. Once sweet dumplings are boiled, toss them into the breadcrumbs, covering them completely.

6. Dust with icing sugar.